Forever and Always
by Sarcastic Musician
Summary: Inspired by the song by Parachute with the same title. It's fluffy, it's got protectiveness, it's got comfort, it's got about five hours of my life. Please give it a try?


_Hey guys! And gals. And Nerdsbians. God I love that word. Anyway, this was inspired by the song "Forever and Always" by Parachute. Though it has a twist...just saying. _

* * *

Myka POV

Where is she?

For the past seven days this though has run rampant through my brain. Well, actually the last seven days, three hours, fourteen minutes and –oh look at that- exactly thirty seconds. Basically since the moment she left my site with Pete for their mission in Montana.

It's not like she's in danger, I keep telling myself, she is not inept or anything.

She's just… out of my site and how in the world am I supposed to know she's okay if she's not with in arms distance?

Dammit I can't work like this! My eyes have scanned a whole document without even taking in a word before I finally decide to stop pretending to be composed. Glancing away from the pages, I shuffle to get comfortable on the couch. What to do, what to do?

Flittering my eyes to the coffee table with the Farnsworth within an arm's reach…maybe a quick call wouldn't hurt. I mean, Artie checks up on us occasionally, it couldn't hurt. Could it?

Not giving myself enough time to second guess, I grab the Farnsworth and turn the dial to call Pete's. Waiting for his, or even better Helena's, face to show on the fuzzy screen I can't help but feel my stomach begin to knot as the seconds turn to minutes and tick by.

Snapping the device close, I bolt upright in search of Claude. She'll have an idea.

Running up the stairs, I find her in her room working on her computer.

"What's up, Mykes?" She says with a smile, which turns down in concern as she looks up at me. "What's wrong?" She asks more urgently

"Have you heard from Helena or Pete? I just tried calling…" I trail off as her fingers begin fluttering across the keys.

"They were looking for an artifact that…wait a minute, it says here that Artie has already checked it as snagged and bagged…as of yesterday…why haven't they..." She cuts off, becoming more involved in the words on the screen.

Flipping my Farnsworth back on, I dial in Artie's number.

"Myka, what do you wa-" Artie's annoyed voice bursts into the room

"No, no you have no reason to be upset with me! You had word from HG and Pete and you didn't update me, when you know damn well, I've been worried sick since they stopped answering the Farnsworth three days ago!" I say cutting him off, the surprised and proud look Claudia shoots me would make me smirk in any other situation, but this is Helena and Pete's lives at stake.

"I can assure you he's fine, Myka." Artie responds annoyance still lacing his lowered tone.

"And Helena?" I question, hearing the pronoun

"You caught that, didn't you?" He says and shifts under my daggered gaze, "I- I – I- There's nothing to-" Just then the phone in my pocket began to vibrate.

Not taking my eyes from the flustered man, I pull it from my pocket and bring it side by side to the Farnsworth in an effort to keep my glare going. Tensing as I read Pete's name on the screen, I instantly close the Farnsworth and flip the phone to my ear.

"What's up, Mykes?" Pete greets first.

"What happened?" I ask my voice strong while my knees shake.

"Nothing, nothing, we just…there was a little problem, a snag in the rope, a snake in the boot, a –" He continues to ramble as I focus on the accented voice I could hear in the background.

"Pete!" I yell when he continued his rambling, "How's Helena?"

"I'm fine thanks for asking." He says in a wounded, pity-me voice

"Pete." I reply, my voice eerily calm to my own ears as I can feel the tears brim my eyes.

"She's fine, she's fine, she's hurt, but she'll be alright." He says quickly

"She's hurt! What the hell happened?" I call into the phone as Claudia's eyes lock on to mine.

Pete doesn't answer but instead I can hear a door squeak open and some shuffling.

"Here let me help you." Pete's whispered voice wafts through the phone lines.

"I think I'm able to get into bed, Peter, but thank you for your assistance." My heart pounds at her voice…well both at her voice and the fear of whatever the Hell happened that put her in a hospital bed.

"Pete! Pete!" I call into the phone trying to get his attention

"Yeah, Mykes?"

"Where are you, I'm coming down."

"You really don't…I can sense the Myka glare, you should really get a medal for that b-t-dubs, I'll send the info to Claude. See you when you get here."

Before he can hang up I quickly respond, walking from Claude's room and into my own, "Wait, wait, um…can I talk to her?" I ask, hating the way my voice falters.

"Uh, yeah sure, one sec."

I can hear some shuffling as the phone exchanges hands, and Pete's awkward 'I'll be back in a few' before the steadiness of her breathe reaches my ear.

"Hello, darling." Her voice causes my knees to finally give out as I sit down on our bed.

"Helena." I breathe out on a sigh of relief, "What's going on?"

"Nothing too bad, I assure you…It would seem the bullets have not changed much since my time…though they do hurt a good amount." She replies her voice strained from barely concealed pain.

"You got shot!" I want to yell, but it comes out as a fierce whisper.

"Not entirely, more of a graze than anything else. The doctors (and Pete) are forcing me to stay here for a few days. Though I think Pete's drive is more in the pursuit for my night nurse's number than actual concern." She ends, with her voice light.

I can't help but smile slightly at her teasing tone, though the knots in my stomach do not release.

"I'll be there in a few hours; I'm leaving for the airport now." I say standing up and grabbing my keys.

"Alright, darling, I'll be waiting. Love you." She says softly.

"Love you too." I reply as I regretfully end the call and rush to get the flight info from Claude.

* * *

Ever since the flight landed half an hour ago, it has been non-stop movement. First I had to pick up the rental car, and of course this late at night the place was closing. As it stands it's nearing twelve o'clock and I am running for the emergency room.

"Ma'am visitation hours are over." A nurse calls as I make my way through the lobby

Not turning back, I continue to fast walk down the halls, occasionally flashing my badge.

Nearing room 15, I can't help but wrap my arms around my chest in comfort.

Pushing open the door when I come to it, my breath catches at the sight of Helena sitting uo in the bed beside Pete, smiling as he spoke over the lines of the black and white movie playing out on the TV screen.

"Helena." I can't help but let out on a sigh, instantly finding myself at her side.

"Myka." She responds with a smile, motioning me to take the place Pete just vacated on her side. Leaving her arm on the mattress to hold me to her, I instead lace my fingers with hers and reverse our positions. Pulling her to lie cradled against me, I plant a soft kiss to her head.

The room is silent for a while, only our breathing and Pete's occasional awkward shuffle polluting the quiet room.

There are so many things I want to say. Starting with 'I love you,' matter of fact I'd love to say that about a million times. Then I'd move onto 'I missed you,' 'I thought I lost you,' all of which would bring me right back to 'I love you.'

But, at the moment, my brain stops. I can't help but be calmed by the feel of her heart beat, breathing and all over warmth. So for these few moments, I'll hold her and forget the world.

Don't get me wrong, as soon as the need for Helena to be by my side ever second fades a little after this, I will use the sliver of allowable time apart to remind Jerk 1 and Jerk 2 (AKA Artie and Pete) that I am allowed to carry a weapon and the next time they withhold information on my wife from me again…let's just say I know how to hide a body.

But as it stands, I'll hold Helena just that little bit tighter and feel some of the stresses bleed away.

Feeling my eyes close as our heads rest against each other on the bed, I am instantly awoken by the opening of door.

"Ah hello Ms. Hunt." The man in the white coat greets Helena, "Have you been feeling any better?"

The two converse for a bit on her pain level and such, and as I try to get up from her side in an effort to give the doctor room to work, her strong arm held me in place.

"How bad is it, Doc?" Pete finally asks the question that's been burned into my brain for the past few hours.

"Nothing life threatening, though we do need to keep you under observation." He says glancing at Helena, "The bullet missed the major tendons, just barely grazing the bone in her right arm. Some of the bone has splintered off leaving us some options to be discussed tomorrow. Keep your arm steady, and I'll see you in the morning." He advices, taking his leave of the room

As the door starts to shut, the room is able to hear running shoes from down the hall, only to stop at the room next door.

Snuggling further into Helena I do my best not to let worry for the person next door seep into my mind.

After a few moments a soft knock is heard at the door.

The nurse that –judging by his smile- Pete had been flirting with walks in with red-rimmed eyes.

"We don't usually do things like this, but a man's dying next door. His fiancée and him are doing the ceremony now, I hoped you guys might have rings they can borrow?"

Instantly I hold Helena tighter, and I feel her do the same as Pete retrieves the undercover rings from their mission.

Through the paper thin walls we can hear the muffled pastor and soft sobs, but above all else I hear my heart pounding.

Squeezing my eyes shut as the tears threaten, I pull Helena as close as I possibly can.


End file.
